Newspaper's backing gives Gingrich boost in New Hampshire

Philip Elliott, Associated Press

November 27, 2011

Photo: MANDEL NGAN

ASSOCIATED PRESS FILE
WORTH A SMILE: Newt Gingrich, center, and Mitt Romney, right, confer with Jon Huntsman prior to the start of the Republican presidential debate last week. On Sunday, Gingrich bested Romney when he won the endorsement of the largest newspaper in New Hampshire.

ASSOCIATED PRESS FILE
WORTH A SMILE: Newt Gingrich, center, and...

WASHINGTON - Republican presidential hopeful Newt Gingrich landed the endorsement of New Hampshire's largest newspaper on Sunday while rival Mitt Romney earned a dismissive wave, potentially resetting the race in the state with the first-in-the-nation primary.

For Gingrich, the former House speaker, the backing builds on his recent rise in the polls and quick work to build a campaign after a disastrous start in the summer. Romney, the former Massachusetts governor who has a vacation home in the state and has been called a "nearly native son of New Hampshire," absorbed the blow heading into the Jan. 10 vote that's vital to his campaign strategy.

"We don't back candidates based on popularity polls or big-shot backers. We look for conservatives of courage and conviction who are independent-minded, grounded in their core beliefs about this nation and its people, and best equipped for the job," The New Hampshire Union Leader said in its front-page editorial, which was as much a promotion of Gingrich as a discreet rebuke of Romney.

The Union Leader's editorial telegraphed conservatives' concerns about Romney's shifts on crucial issues of abortion and gay rights were unlikely to fade. Those worries have led Romney to keep Iowa's Jan. 3 caucuses - where conservatives hold great sway - at arm's length.

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At the same time, the endorsement boosts Gingrich's conservative credentials. He spent the week defending his immigration policies against accusations that they are a form of amnesty. On Monday, Gingrich takes a campaign swing through South Carolina, the South's first primary state.

Romney, taking a few days' break for the Thanksgiving holiday, has kept focused on a long-term strategy that doesn't lurch from one development to another. Last week, he picked up the backing of Sen. John Thune, a South Dakota conservative, to add to his impressive roster of supporters.

The Union Leader's rejection of Romney wasn't surprising despite his efforts to woo state leaders. The newspaper rejected Romney four years ago in favor of Arizona Sen. John McCain, using front-page columns and editorials to promote McCain and criticize Romney.

"It helped McCain a lot because it buttressed the time he spent there. McCain camped out in New Hampshire and was able to make good with The Union Leader," said Craig Stevens, a spokesman for Romney's 2008 bid who is not working for a presidential candidate this time.

"Now, the speaker has to spend the time there, too," Stevens said.

Since his first run, Romney courted publisher Joseph McQuaid. Earlier this year Romney and his wife, Ann, had dinner with the McQuaids at the Bedford Village Inn, hoping to reset the relationship. It didn't prove enough.

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Romney's advisers were quick to point out that Gingrich went into October with more than $1 million in campaign debt. Romney, meanwhile, was sitting on a pile of cash and only last week began running television ads - a luxury Gingrich can't yet afford.

While Romney enjoys solid support in national polls, many Republicans have shifted from candidate to candidate in search of an alternative. That led to the rise - and fall - of potential challengers such as Cain, Rep. Michele Bachmann of Minnesota and Texas Gov. Rick Perry.

Romney leads in polls

Romney enjoys solid leads in New Hampshire polls, too. A poll released last week showed him with 42 percent support among likely Republican primary voters in the state. Gingrich followed with 15 percent in the WMUR-University of New Hampshire Granite State poll.

Rep. Ron Paul of Texas posted 12 percent support and former Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman found 8 percent support in that survey.